Ministry asks judo boss to go but ignores tennis chief’s tenure violation

Sabi Hussain

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 12

The Sports Ministry’s selective action against the Judo Federation of India (JFI) president Mukesh Kumar has exposed its double standards. 

On Monday, the Ministry asked Kumar to quit as the JFI president for flouting the tenure guidelines of the National Sports Development Code. But when it came to deciding on the future of All India Tennis Association (AITA) president Anil Khanna on the same issue, the Ministry chose not apply the same yardstick.

While the Ministry showed alacrity in issuing the marching orders to the JFI president, the same eagerness was nowhere to be seen in the case of the AITA chief.

As per the Sports Code, it is mandatory to serve a cooling-off period of four years before a secretary seeks re-election after two successive terms. Kumar, who was the secretary general in the JFI for two successive terms, took over as the chief of the federation from Jagdish Tytler in August 2013 without serving the cooling-off period.

The Ministry had asked Kumar to step down during a hearing on May 27 this year, but he sought more time to present his case on the issue.

In the meantime, the Ministry approached the Law Ministry to discuss the contentious issue. The Law Ministry suggested that Kumar should be asked to quit for not adhering to the code. It also opined that if he refused to step down, the sports body should be de-recognised.

Based on the Law Ministry’s advice, the Sports Ministry issued Kumar’s removal order. His ouster would also mean that he will have to resign as the secretary general of the Judo Union of Asia (JUA). While Kumar was not available for comments as he is in Bangkok on a personal visit, JFI secretary general Manmohan Jaiswal said he was unaware of the matter.  

Ideally, Khanna, who was also facing the heat for flouting the tenure guidelines, should have also been given the marching orders. Khanna held the post of AITA secretary general from 2000 to 2012, before taking over as the president in October last year without serving the four-year cooling-off period.

However, the Ministry chose to put Khanna’s issue on the backburner, perhaps because AITA has threatened to take legal action against any such directive. 

The Ministry had granted AITA only a provisional recognition till March 31, 2015, but it still continues to function without any fear of getting suspended.